The logic behind Project Ara is pretty solid when you consider how fragile the current crop of smartphones are. A poll by MobileInsurance.co.uk last year suggests that 25% of iPhone owners continue to use their device with a broken screen, reasoning that they couldn't afford to replace it or were unable to easily repair it.

So what are Google? They are not upstarts or start-ups anymore, having now been around for 15 years. They are not evil (as they keep telling us). What they are is clever - they are a 'Clever Company', a niche category that so many others fail to grasp.